Rheological Behavior of an Aqueous Suspension of Oxidized Carbon Nanohorn (CNHox)

Abstract

Oxidized carbon nanohorn (CNHox) a carbon nanomaterial that has attracted attention due to its unique material properties. It is expected to be applied in various areas like cancer treatment, gene-expression technology, fluids with high thermal conductivity, lubricants, and so on. While the rheological measurements of suspensions provide information on the effective size and interactions of suspended particles, the rheological behaviors of aqueous suspensions of CNHox have never been systematically investigated. To clarify the rheological behaviors of aqueous suspensions of CNHox, their viscosity and dynamic viscoelasticity were measured with changing particle concentration and salt concentration. The viscosity of a CNHox suspension showed yield stress at low shear rates and showed shear-thinning behavior with increasing shear rates. The viscosity of 5 weight % CNHox suspensions was comparable to that of 60 weight % silica suspensions. This high viscosity at a low CNHox concentration is probably due to the porous structure and large effective volume of the CNHox particle. The estimated effective volume of CNHox calculated by the Krieger−Dougherty equation was 18.9 times larger than the actual volume calculated by the mass concentration and density. The dependence of rheological behavior of the CNHox suspension on salt concentration was weak compared to that of the colloidal silica suspension. This weak dependence on salt concentration may be due to the roughness of the particle surface, which would weaken the effect of electric double-layer interactions and/or van der Waals interactions between particles. These rheological behaviors of the aqueous suspension of CNHox shown in this research will be useful in efforts to improve the efficiency of its utilization for the various applications.